On January 28, 2025, the SoftBank logo will be displayed at directly managed stores in Tokyo.
Kazunari Kato | Reuters
Japan’s share Softbank Group AI stocks resumed their decline on Friday following a broader selloff as investors once again became wary of the sector’s high valuations.
The group, which has a wide range of AI investments across infrastructure, semiconductor and application companies, saw its stock price drop more than 8%.
This comes after SoftBank rose nearly 3% in pre-market trading before plunging 10% on Wednesday, its worst day since April.
Other Japanese tech stocks also fell. Semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest fell more than 6%, chipmaker Renesas Electronics fell nearly 4% and chip manufacturing equipment maker Tokyo Electron fell 1.46%.
SoftBank owns a controlling stake in Arm Holdings, a UK-based semiconductor design company whose chips power mobile and AI processors around the world. NASDAQ-listed Arm shares fell 1.21% overnight.
Separately, SoftBank was considering acquiring U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, Bloomberg recently reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The decline in Asian tech stocks also follows an overnight drop in U.S. AI companies.
Qualcomm fell about 4% despite strong quarterly results as it warned it could lose future Apple business. AMD, which performed well on Wednesday, fell 7%, while Palantir and Oracle fell about 7% and 3%, respectively. Nvidia and Meta Platforms, another member of the Magnificent Seven, also fell in the rankings.
The excitement around AI is raising concerns that the market is experiencing a technology bubble. Some experts argue that AI company valuations are starting to resemble the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, with stock prices rising far beyond realistic profit expectations.
